Dia de los Muertos
by heyits.reagan
Summary: Star learns about Marco's favorite holiday. (Two shot. Very Starco come second chapter).
1. Chapter 1

"Marco! Why… Why are there human skulls sitting on our kitchen table?" Star asked tentatively, eyeing each skull nervously. She held her wand out, ready for the reason for the skulls being there to jump out and attack. Marco chuckled and pushed her arms aside.

"Relax, Star. They're not human skulls, they're sugar skulls."

"Sugar skulls?" Marco sat at the end of the table with a bowl of red icing.

"Yeah! Wait, this is your first _Dia de los Muertos_ with us." Marco grinned at her. "Oh man, you're going to love it!"

She sat next to him and ran her finger over the sugar skull. "What's a dia de Marto's?"

" _Dia de los Muertos_ ," Marco corrected. He dipped a paint brush in the icing and began to draw thin, red lines around the eye sockets of one of the three skulls. "It means Day of the Dead. Every year on November 1st, Hispanic communities hold festivals for Day of the Dead as a celebration for those who have passed. My grandparents come over and we party all weekend!"

"Party?" Star asked, her eyes widening with excitement. Marco smirked.

"Yep, for two days straight. We make these sugar skulls as decorations a few days in advance, then we go to the cemetery and place them around the graves. Some of the city celebrates it as well, so there's going to be lots of things going on downtown. I can't wait for you to see them!"

Star smiled at the sugar skulls. "Do we get to eat these things?"

"Eat? Gross, no. They're hard as a rock and bland. Like I said, they're for decoration, so we usually dress them up with icing," he gestured to the bowl of red on the table, "glitter, rhinestones, stickers… Anything you want, really."

"We don't celebrate deaths on Mewni," Star sighed, watching Marco draw lines across the skull. "When somebody dies, we walk through the village, with the royal family leading, singing old Mewni songs. Nobody's buried, either, they're all turned to ashes. The family of the deceased walks behind the royal family holding their box of ashes. It's pretty depressing compared to what you're talking about."

"Maybe that's one thing you can change when you become queen," Marco suggested, glancing up at her. She smiled at him.

"Yeah, maybe. So, can I help with one of these?"

"Sure! My parents are out getting the rest of the supplies right now, so all we have is icing."

"Awesome!" she cried, eagerly grabbing a skull and turning to find the bowls of icing.

••••••••

"Whoa, this is huge," Star gasped, craning her neck to look at a humungous shrine. It was lit up by candles and had dozens and dozens of boxes of all sorts of colors. Families gathered all around, some whispering to the shrine and others laying different items in the boxes.

"It's a shrine for the entire city," Marco explained, taking in the peaceful atmosphere around them. The sun had long ago set on the end of Day of the Dead and candles lit up the streets. Marco loved this time of year because he loved seeing all these people with the same heritage as him come together. Learning about it in class and seeing pictures is one thing, but living in, being in the center of it, is a whole other world. Marco hopes that, one day, he'll be able to fly to Mexico and witness an entire country celebrating as one.

"Why are people leaving food?" Star asked, watching an old woman sit a plate of brownies in one of the boxes.

"People leave offerings for their loved ones."

"Did we make any food?" she questioned as her stomach grumbled. Marco laughed.

"No, my family doesn't do that. We brought pictures and green candles because my grandmother says green is the color of peace." He stepped back and gestured to his family, who was filling a box with pictures of their loves ones. His grandfather held a green candle in his hands and smiled down at his family.

"I wish I could do something," Star sighed. Marco looked around for a moment until his eyes fell on an empty box on the top row.

"There's an empty box up there. Do you have anyone you want to remember?" She looked up at that dark, red box with a small smile.

"I do," she answered, looking over at him. "But I don't have anything to leave for them. It's okay, though. I'm not really apart of this anyways…" Marco was about to protest, when an elderly man stepped between them. He gave Star a warm smile.

"Tonight is the night for remembrance. If you have somebody you wish you remember, then you _are_ apart of this celebration." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, white haired doll. Its face was painted with all different colors in the pattern of a sugar skull and it was wearing a long, red dress. "My wife likes to make extras to give to the kids in our neighborhood. I'm sorry for your loss, but I hope you've found a way to celebrate who they were."

Star, shocked, carefully took the doll from the man's hand and held it in her own. She pet the hair and stroked the dress. She looked back at the man and smiled, "Thank you, this really means a lot."

Marco turned to his dad and asked for a candle. His grandmother usually used two, but she was willing to give it up after he explained the situation. He turned to her with a smile and a shadow illuminated across his face.

"Want to fill up that box?" he asked, nodding toward the shrine.

"Well, yeah! But how do I get up there?"

"You could hop on my shoulders."

"…You trust me to get on your shoulders with a candle?"

"I do. Please don't make either of us the one to be celebrated next year."

"Wait, wait!" His mom cried as she began to climb on his shoulders. "This is very dangerous. I'll hand you the candle when you're stable." Star laughed and nodded. When the fire was out of the way, Star swung her legs over Marco's shoulders. Marco wrapped his arms around her legs and slowly rose to his feet. She swayed and rocked and grabbed his face nervously.

"Star, that's my face. Let go of my face." She didn't let go until she was sure she wouldn't fall. "Don't you trust me, Star? I won't let you fall."

"You better not. It's an awful far drop from way up here."

"You're, like, five feet off the ground."

"It'd still hurt!"

"Here you go, Star," Marco's mom said, breaking up the argument. She raised the candle to Star, who took it delicately. Star stared into the dark box for a moment.

"I know this isn't our normal, Uncle Pete," she whispered as she laid the candle in the box. The flame danced like a flower in the wind. "This is what happens when mom sends me to Earth, I guess. But still, I hope you appreciate the offer. I like this a lot better than talking to a stupid tin can." She rested the doll against one side and sighed. "I sure do miss you, Uncle Pete. You were the only insane one on mom's side."

"You good, Star?" Marco asked.

She looked down at him and smiled. "Yeah, I'm good."

"Okay, give me your hands."

When Star was safely back on the ground, she turned to Marco and pulled him into a tight hug. "Thank you for sharing this with me," she whispered in his ear. "When I become queen, I'll introduce all of Mewni to Dia de los Marco!"

He pulled away. "No, it's Di- You know what? Never mind. I hope you _do_ do that, Star. I'll be looking forward to it."

* * *

 **I love this holiday, and I really hope I can attend a real celebration one day. Forgive me if I got some facts wrong, though! I'm American, not Hispanic, so I've never actually celebrated Day of the Dead before (unless you count Spanish class). I just went off most of the things my teacher told me, and a bit of the internet's info. Fun fact: Day of the Dead takes places November 1-2 and has nothing to do with Halloween (contrary to popular belief…)! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! Next part will be up soon! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

"Star…"

Marco leaned over his wife and brushed her hair out of her face. He hated to wake her since this was the first time in a week she'd gotten more than three hours of sleep. Finally, she looked peaceful. More than anything, Marco wanted to leave her be in the safety of her dreams rather than let her face the harsh reality waiting for her. But, the citizens outside were getting anxious, her dad was growing more and more depressed, and the kingdom needed a queen.

"Star," he whispered again, gently shaking her shoulder. "Hey, c'mon. Open your eyes."

"Don't wanna," she groaned quietly. Marco sighed. He resisted the urge to kick off his shoes, snuggle in bed with her, and hold her tightly in a protective embrace. Today was the funeral, the day she, her father, and Marco would lead the citizens of the kingdom through town as they sing in the wake of Queen Butterfly. Marco would do absolutely anything if it meant she didn't have to go through that.

To his surprise, she rolled open and looked up at him. She was more awake than he realized. He offered her a warm smile and took her hand. "Good morning," he said as he intertwined their fingers. She smiled back, but it was forced and the light in her eyes were gone.

"I don't want to do this," she admitted, her eyes straying from his.

"I know. But everybody's lost without you."

"How's my dad?"

"Hasn't said a word all day."

"And the people? Have you heard anything about them?"

"The entire kingdom has been outside the front gates all day. I sent some servants out to bring food to them a few hours ago."

"That was nice of you. You're going to make a great king, Marco. I'm glad you're by my side."

Marco dipped his head and planted a soft, lingering kiss on her forehead. "And I'm never leaving."

There was a knock at the door, followed by a hesitant, "Princess Star, your father is asking for you." The kingdom's guards were shaken, too, especially the ones who guarded Queen Butterfly's chambers that fatal night. Star knew which pair of guards right away when they approached her with guilty, scared expressions on their faces as they gave the heart wrenching news. They expected her to punish them, Star guessed, but she knew it wasn't their fault. There's no way to predict a heart attack, after all.

So, Star slowly dragged herself out of bed and stumbled across the room to her dresser. As she bent over to grab a pair of leggings from a lower drawer, Marco's shirt slipped up her back a bit, revealing that she wasn't wearing any kind of shorts. Marco snickered.

"Stop looking at my butt," she ordered without looking back.

"I wasn't!" he declared defensively, even though he shamelessly was. She grabbed a pair of black see through leggings and turned to him with a knowing glare. All he could do was grin innocently.

"You're such an awful liar," she muttered, heading sitting on the bed again. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and kissed her cheek.

"It's so amazing that I can't help but stare at it."

Star snorted and sounded like a pig, which made Marco release her and throw himself back on their bed, laughing loudly. She rolled her eyes and pulled on the leggings before headed to her closet. There was a hat on the top shelf that was reserved strictly for these occasions. Thankfully, she hadn't needed to wear it much since she and Marco came to live in Mewni three years earlier. With both of her arms stretched up, she jumped and tried her best to knock the hat off with what little contact she was allowed to reach, but she was forced to come to the conclusion that she was simply too short.

"Marco," she whined, looking back at him. He was just changing into a white tank top when she called.

"Yes, princess?" he asked, walking over to her. With a pout, she pointed to the top shelf she was unable to reach. Marco smirked and grabbed the hat with ease. Star was so jealous that he'd hit a growth spurt after high school. Now he was four inches taller than her, and one of his favorite hobbies was teasing her about it any chance he got. She hadn't grown since they graduated, and a twenty-three year old princess standing at five foot five wasn't very impressive.

As he plucked the hat off the shelf, a picture was knocked off and floated soundlessly toward the floor. Star caught it in front of her face and she smiled. It was a picture of the two of them when they were younger, celebrating Marco's favorite holiday for the first time. Their faces were painted like candy skulls, thanks to his mom. She longed to be that age again fairly often. Things were much simpler in those times.

Her eyes suddenly widened. "Marco!" she gasped, looking up at him. Marco blinked. The light was suddenly back in her eyes. He hadn't seen them like that in a week. He missed them, so much.

"What?" he asked, getting excited himself. Whatever it was that made her brighten up so suddenly, he was one hundred percent on board with it.

"Remember when we were kids and you taught me about Day of the Dead? And remember how I said I wanted to change some old ways when I become queen?"

Marco caught her drift and grinned. "You want to celebrate your mom, Dia de los Muertos style, don'tcha?"

"More than anything."

••••••••

Four and a half hours later, Star walked onto the balcony of her castle. She surprised that her people are still outside, waiting. They cheered when they saw her, and many people once sitting or laying down rose to greet her. She looked out over the thousands of people gathered in front of her castle and felt her chest her. She wasn't sure if it was guilt from making them wait so long or the joy of so many people coming to respect her mother or even the fact that this was the first time she'd ever spoken to her people in her life. Her palms were sweating and her legs wobbled with nerves. She gripped the rail along the balcony tightly.

A microphone was attached to the collar of her dress so her voice would be projected through the kingdom. Since she'd been back, Mewni has been working on being a bit modern. She was most proud of this suggestion, because finally, everybody in the kingdom could hear what the queen had to say.

"People of Mewni," Star began, pausing to listen to her voice echo through the streets, "I'm so sorry for making you all wait so long. I'm deeply grateful for the dedication you all have to this kingdom, especially in this time of need. I immediately felt so much better when I stepped outside to see you all still here, even after the sun's beginning to set. So thank you, for not giving up on me yet. This is all very new to me, public speaking and everything. It kinda stinks that my first order of business for Mewni is to lead the ceremony of my mother, but I'm honored to do it. My mother was an amazing, wise woman, even though we didn't see eye to eye most of the time. She was an incredible queen as well, always knowing what to do and understanding her people so well. I don't know if I can ever live up to who she was because those are some major shoes to fill. I know I've been a bit reckless in the past, but I'm not a little girl anymore. I hope you all can accept me as your queen and I swear, I was do my very best to follow in my mother's footsteps."

As the crowd erupted into cheers, Marco stepped onto the balcony and wrapped an arm around her waist. She smiled at him as he pulled her close and kissed her hair. When the cheers died down, Star continued her speech.

"My time on Earth was well spent learning about juggling responsibilities and still having fun. I have so many wonderful memories from my time there, but there's on in particular I'd like to share with you all. From this day forward, I'm having a cemetery built so you have the option of burying your loved one, which is what a lot of Earth's citizens do. With the new generation, I think it's time to start new traditions. On this day, I hereby declare this as Day of the Dead. Every year, we can dismiss our regular daily chores and come together as one to celebrate those who we have lost. Dying doesn't have to be sad all the time. Instead of mourning our lost loves, we should remember the good times we had with them. This is a festival my husband's family celebrates on earth. It's a two day festival filled with music, food, and dancing. I know this is a lot to take in at once, but please, step inside and see it all for yourselves. I, soon to be Queen Star Butterfly, give you the new generation of Mewni."

The large, iron gates of the castle groaned as they jolted and split apart. The citizens gasped and chatter rippled through the crowd. People flood through the gates, multiple emotions drifting through the air. Star eagerly grabbed Marco's hand and they rushed down to meet everybody.

It sure was a hassle, trying to get everything together last minute. She had to round together at least thirty servants who could draw decently well, order the guards to set up tables around the courtyard, and have the cooks throw together enough food to feed an army. Star was so proud of her staff when everything was finally finished. She apologized for making the cooks work so hard and gave them all the day off, although most decided to stick around for the festival. Marco called his parents and they joined as well. His dad brought his guitar, which he can play surprisingly well, as Star learned her senior year of high school.

When the two finally reached the courtyard, they were overwhelmed with joy. The citizens really seemed to be enjoying themselves! The lines for face paintings were long and overlapped each other, small children ran around with candy skulls painted across their faces, adults ate happily and chatted amongst themselves, and even the staff seemed to be happier than they had been the past week. Marco's dad was playing his guitar and his mom was dancing, but nobody else seemed to be.

"C'mon, this isn't a festival without dancing!" Marco exclaimed, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the middle.

"Oh Marco, you know I'm bad at dancing," she said with a laugh.

"Just follow my lead. It's just like prom, remember?" He shot her a smile and grabbed her hands. Marco's mom made him go to a ballroom dancing class during their junior year, much to his dismay, but Star couldn't tease him anymore because he actually got pretty good at it. And, in both that particular moment and prom, she was thankful his mom forced him to endure it for nine months. He was a great lead, as well.

The citizens of Mewni partied the night away and Star, even though she knew she'd be crowned queen the next day, refused to turn in until she physically couldn't party anymore. When that happened, Marco laughed, scooped his queen in his arms, and headed for the castle. As he walked to the door, he paused to wink at the painted portrait over the door of Queen Butterfly.


End file.
